Caring for plated jewellery: the realistic 5-minute routine.

A short, honest disclosure first: gold plating wears. Even the best 1-micron antique-gold finish, applied over brass or german-silver, will eventually show the base metal at the highest-friction points — clasp tongue, earring post, the back of a maang tikka where it sits against the forehead. This is true of every fashion-jewellery brand in the world, and pretending otherwise is the most common form of cheating in the industry. What is true, and useful, is that a five-minute routine triples the life of every piece.

Rule one: jewellery goes on last and comes off first. Last because perfume, hairspray, sunscreen, and body lotion are the three biggest enemies of plated metal. Spray your fragrance, set your makeup, then put the jewellery on — never the other way around. First-off because the friction of getting out of a saree blouse or a fitted kurta is exactly the wrong combination of force and direction for a clasp tongue. Take the jewellery off before you change.

Rule two: dry storage, individual pouches. Humidity is the second enemy. Every Nandai piece ships in a small cotton-felt pouch and a butter-paper inner wrap — keep both. The pouches stack flat in a drawer with a silica gel sachet (replace every six months). Never store plated jewellery in plastic zip-bags long-term; the off-gassing accelerates tarnish on the unplated edges. And never store two pieces in one pouch — they scratch each other.

Rule three: wipe after wear, before storage. A soft cotton cloth, slightly damp with plain water, run gently over the visible surfaces. This removes the day's salt, sweat, and skincare residue, which is the slow killer of plating. Dry the piece completely before it goes back into its pouch. Never use silver polish on plated jewellery — it strips the plating, fast.

Rule four: meenakari enamel is glass. It does not corrode, tarnish, or fade in light, which is why three-hundred-year-old enamel pieces in the City Palace museum still look fresh. But it is brittle. A hard knock will chip the enamel; the chip is unrepairable without re-firing the cell. Treat meenakari like porcelain — same shelf, same handling. Never drop it in a tray with hard pieces.

Rule five: faux pearls hate perfume, hairspray, and chlorine. The thin nacre coating dissolves on contact. Apply fragrance before pearls (rule one repeated for emphasis), never swim in pearls, and never store pearls touching another stone with a sharp edge. With this routine, a Nandai pearl-detail Rajputi-inspired piece holds its look for three to five wedding seasons easily. Without it, a single sunscreen-and-pool afternoon ends the piece.